U.S. patent number 4,952,133 [Application Number 07/390,899] was granted by the patent office on 1990-08-28 for apparatus for forming a blown bottle with a handle.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Mitsubishi Plastics Industries Limited. Invention is credited to Hideo Hasegawa, Masayuki Miyagawa, Toshio Takahashi.
United States Patent |
4,952,133 |
Hasegawa , et al. |
August 28, 1990 |
Apparatus for forming a blown bottle with a handle
Abstract
In forming a blown bottle with a handle as a one-piece-molded
product, a thermoplastic parison and a handle are previously held
with a correct positional relation by respective holders and they
are simultaneously moved in a blow mold to be subjected to blow
molding.
Inventors: |
Hasegawa; Hideo (Hiratsuka,
JP), Takahashi; Toshio (Hiratsuka, JP),
Miyagawa; Masayuki (Hiratsuka, JP) |
Assignee: |
Mitsubishi Plastics Industries
Limited (Tokyo, JP)
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Family
ID: |
27332945 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/390,899 |
Filed: |
August 8, 1989 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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192927 |
May 12, 1988 |
4909978 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
425/503; 215/383;
215/396; 264/516; 264/535; 425/525; 425/526; 425/533; 425/534 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B29C
49/20 (20130101); B29C 49/06 (20130101); B29C
2049/2017 (20130101); B29C 2049/2039 (20130101); B29C
2049/2073 (20130101); B29C 2049/2082 (20130101); B29L
2031/463 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B29C
49/20 (20060101); B29C 49/06 (20060101); B29C
049/20 (); B29C 049/64 () |
Field of
Search: |
;425/525,526,528,533,534,540,503 ;264/516,535,538 ;215/1C,1A |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2613735 |
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Oct 1977 |
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DE |
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58-27934 |
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Jun 1983 |
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JP |
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58-99350 |
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Jun 1983 |
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JP |
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62-87026 |
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Jun 1987 |
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JP |
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62-115336 |
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Jul 1987 |
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JP |
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62-115337 |
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Jul 1987 |
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JP |
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62-152925 |
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Sep 1987 |
|
JP |
|
62-188428 |
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Dec 1987 |
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JP |
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63-3933 |
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Jan 1988 |
|
JP |
|
63-3934 |
|
Jan 1988 |
|
JP |
|
63-3935 |
|
Jan 1988 |
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JP |
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Primary Examiner: Chiesa; Richard L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier
& Neustadt
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/192,927, filed on
May 12, 1988, and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,978.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for forming a blown bottle with a handle which
comprises:
a circularly transferring unit,
a first holder attached to said transferring unit to hold a parison
vertically,
a second holder attached to said transferring unit to hold said
handle so that said handle is at a predetermined position with
respect to said parison,
a heating unit to heat said parison,
blow mold for simultaneously receiving said parison and said handle
on said first and second holders while maintaining said
predetermined position of said handle with respect to said parison,
and
an air-blowing unit to supply pressurized air to said parison when
it is positioned in said blow mold.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, which comprises:
an injection molding station for forming said parison and
handle,
a heating station for heating said parison by said heating
unit,
a blow-molding station for expanding said parison into a blown
bottle via said blow mold and air blowing unit so that said bottle
and said handle join,
a removing station for removing a blown product and which are
circularly arranged, and
an injection mold positioned at said injection molding station and
which includes a holder plate for holding said parison and said
handle, as a separable part of said mold.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of sets
of said first and second holders are attached to said circularly
transferring unit.
4. An apparatus forming a blown bottle having an integrally
attached handle, which comprises:
a blow mold,
means for heating a thermoplastic parison to a temperature suitable
for molding;
means for separately holding said parison and said handle in a
predetermined positional relationship;
means for simultaneously moving said parison and said handle via
said means for separately holding said parison and said handle into
said blow mold while maintaining said predetermined positional
relationship; and
means for blowing a pressurized fluid into said parison and for
expanding said parison into contact with said handle to thereby
form a blown bottle having said handle integrally attached
thereto.
5. The apparatus according to claim 4, which comprises a parison
heating station and blowing station means for setting said parison
and said handle on respective holders, and means for moving said
holders circularly to said parison heating station and a then to
said blowing station.
6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said means for
separately holding said parison and handle comprises a first holder
and second holder and which comprises means for setting said
parison on said first holder prior to heating said parison, and for
setting said handle on said second holder so as to maintain said
predetermined positional relationship to said parison.
7. The apparatus according to claim 4, which comprises:
an injection mold and;
inline injection and blow-molding means for simultaneously forming
said parison and said handle by injection in said injection mold
and moving said parison and said handle circularly via said means
for separately holding said parison and handle to a heating station
and then to a blowing station, wherein said means for separately
holding said parison and handle comprises a holder plate which
forms part of an injection cavity of said injection mold in which
said parison and handle are formed.
8. The apparatus according to claim 4, which comprises means for
setting said parison on a rotatable holder and setting said handle
on a non-rotatable holder.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of
forming a thermoplastic bottle with a handle.
2. Discussion of the Background
It has been known that it is difficult to form a thermoplastic
bottle with a handle by blow-molding a single parison of a material
such as polyethylene terephthalate.
There is a proposal in a publication, for instance, Japanese
Unexamined Patent Publication No. 99350/1983 to form the blow
bottle with a handle in such a manner that a parison and a handle
are separately formed; the handle is first put on a handle holder
placed at a predetermined position in a blow mold; then, the
parison is put in the blow mold; and thereafter, blow molding is
carried out.
In the conventional method, however, an additional device is
required to move the handle holder since the handle is fixed at a
predetermined position by the handle holder separate from the
parison. Further, there is easily caused an error in positional
relation between the handle and the parison since the parison is
moved after the handle is fixed. As a result, there takes place a
deviation in position where the handle is attached to the blown
bottle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus
for forming a blown bottle with a handle having a correct
positional relation.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method
of forming a blown bottle with a handle which is a one-piece-molded
product by blowing a pressurized fluid into a thermoplastic parison
heated at a temperature suitable for molding which is placed in a
blow mold together with the handle, the method being characterized
in that the parison and the handle are previously held with a
correct positional relation and they are simultaneously moved in
the blow mold to be subjected to blow molding.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an
apparatus for forming a blown bottle with a handle which
comprises:
a circularly transferring unit,
a first holder attached to the transferring unit to hold a parison
vertically,
a second holder attached to the transferring unit to hold a handle
so that the handle is at a predetermined position with respect to
the parison,
a heating unit to heat the parison,
a blow mold which receives the parison and the handle on the first
and second holders, and
an air-blowing unit to supply pressurized air to the parison when
it is in the blow mold.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the
attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same
becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed
description when considered in connection with the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the apparatus for forming
a blown bottle with a handle to carry out the method of the present
invention in which a parison holding unit and a handle holding unit
are shown in detail;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the holding units shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a blow mold;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A--A' in FIG.
3;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the blown
bottle with a handle obtained by the method of the present
invention;
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the apparatus for
forming a blown bottle with a handle according to the present
invention; and
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line B--B' in FIG.
6.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the present invention, a parison in a tubular form with a bottom
wall is used. The parison is formed either by injection molding of
synthetic resin such as polyethylene terephthalate or by an
extrusion method after which one end of tubular product is
closed.
The handle may be formed by injection molding of synthetic resin
such as polypropylene, polyethylene and so on.
In the present invention, the parison and the handle are held with
a correct positional relation. For this, a holder for holding the
parison and a holder for holding the handle are attached on the
same transferring unit at predetermined positions, and they are
simultaneously moved in the blow mold in the state that they
respectively hold the parison and the handle. The parison holder
may have a rotatable mandrel and the handle holder may be in a
non-rotatable state so that only the parison is caused to rotate
while being heated at a forming temperature before it is moved in
the blow mold.
Alternatively, the parison and the handle are injection-molded by
using a forming mold in which a cavity for the parison and a cavity
for the handle are formed so as to maintain a correct positional
relation when they are subjected to blow molding, and then, the
parison and the handle are moved in the blow mold in a state such
that the mouth portion of the parison and the runner for the handle
are held with a predetermined positional relation.
Under the above-mentioned condition, the parison and the handle are
simultaneously put in the blow mold in which the handle is set in a
recess formed in the inner wall of the blow mold. Then, a
pressurized fluid is supplied in the parison as in the usual
manner, whereby a blown bottle with the handle attached to it at a
correct position can be obtained.
FIG. 1 is an example showing an apparatus for forming a blown
bottle with a handle to carry out a forming method according to the
present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 designates a circularly transferring
unit. A first holder 1 having a rotatable mandrel 11 is attached to
a peripheral part of the transferring unit 5. The mandrel 11 is so
adapted to support a parison 3 on it with the neck portion of the
parison directing downwardly. A second holder 2 for supporting a
handle 4 is also attached to the peripheral part of the
transferring unit 5 in a non-rotatable manner. The first and second
holders 1, 2 have a predetermined positional relation with respect
to each other on the transferring unit 5. The first and second
holders 1, 2 are moved circularly to a heating station and a
blowing station as the transferring unit 5 is turned. Reference
numerals 6 designates heaters.
In this embodiment, the parison and the handle are formed in
separate steps, and the parison 3 is put on the mandrel 11 in an
inverted state, i.e. the neck portion of the parison being directed
downwardly. Then, the transferring unit 5 is circularly driven to
thereby move the parison holder 1 with the parison 3 to the heating
station, where the parison 3 is heated at a forming temperature by
the heaters 6 while the mandrel 11 is rotated. Then, the handle 4
is fitted to a pin 21 of the handle holder 2 at a predetermined
level. Then, the parison holder 1 and the handle holder 2 are
simultaneously moved into the blow mold 8.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the blow mold 8 comprises a pair of
half-cylindrical molds 81, 82. The parison 3 and the handle 4 are
simultaneously moved into the half-cylindrical molds 81, 82, which
are in an opened state, while they keep a predetermined positional
relation, and then, they are closed. Then, a pressurized fluid is
supplied into the parison as indicated by an arrow mark to expand
the parison 3 to thereby have its shape correspond to the
configuration of the blow mold 8. At the same time, the handle 4 is
firmly connected to the trunk portion of the blown product. Thus, a
blown bottle with a handle is formed as shown in FIG. 5.
In the above-mentioned embodiment, the handle and the parison are
prepared separately and attached to the holders separately, but
they are simultaneously transferred into the blow mold with the
holders which are fixed on the transferring unit 5 at a
predetermined positional relation.
FIGS. 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the method of and the
apparatus for forming a blown bottle with a handle according to the
present invention. In this embodiment, an injection molding
operation for the parison and the handle and a blow molding
operation to form a blown butte are conducted in series in an
inline system.
Numeral 10 designates an inline injection and blow-molding
apparatus which comprises an injection-molding station 101, a
parison heating station 106, a blow-molding station 107 and a blown
product removing station 108 which are circularly arranged around
the transferring unit. In the injection-molding station 101, there
are arranged a first injection mold 103 for forming the handle and
second injection molds 102 for forming the parison, 3 at both sides
of the first injection mold 103 so that elements for blown bottles
are obtainable. The cavity for the handles formed in the first
injection mold 103 is so determined that the handle is connected to
a predetermined position on the blown product. For this purpose,
the length of the runners 109 for the handles is suitably
determined. Under the above-mentioned condition, injection-molding
is simultaneously or separately carried out for the parisons and
handles by using an injection-molding machine 13. Then, each of the
injection molds are opened. In this state, the mouth portion of
each of the parisons 3 and the runner 109 of each of the handles 4
are respectively held by a holder plate 105 which constitute a part
of the injection molds 102, 103, and the holder plate 105 with the
parisons 3 and the handles 4 is transferred to the parison heating
station 106. In the parison heating station 106, only the parisons
are heated by a plurality of heaters not shown) arranged so as to
surround the parisons 3. Then, the parisons and the handles 4, each
held by the holder plate 105, are simultaneously moved to the
blow-molding station 107 to be put at their predetermined positions
in the blow molds. After the blow molds are closed, blow molding is
carried out. Then, the blow molds are moved to the blown product
removing station 108, where the blow molds are opened, and the
runners 109 for the handles are cut. Thus, blown bottles with a
handle as shown in FIG. 5 are produced.
In accordance with the present invention, since the handle is held
at a correct position with respect to the parison when blow molding
is carried out, the handle is connected to the blown bottle at a
correct position. Accordingly, a blown bottle with a handle can be
easily produced without the problem of scattering of the products.
When the parison and the handle are formed by injection-molding at
predetermined positions, a blown bottle with a handle can be
certainly and effectively produced by a single forming
apparatus.
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present
invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is
therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended
claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as
specifically described herein.
* * * * *